"Strongest" film fest (continued)

Those are the films that are most likely to draw a wide cross-section of the audience. But there is a considerable range of foreign, smaller budget and certainly Canadian films at the WIFF.

Coady says the aim of the festival in part is to reflect Windsor’s demographics. And since the city is the fourth most ethnically diverse in Canada expect films with that international perspective. These include a couple of pictures set in India: Dilip Mehta’s Cooking with Stella – which will be screened at the gala opening at Caesars Windsor Nov. 12 – and Chris Smith’s The Pool.

Canadian movies include the documentary Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, Xavier Dolan’s I Killed My Mother, and Cairo Time starring Patricia Clarkson and Tom McCamus.

On the international front, there is Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon, Lorna’s Silence from Belgium, Romania’s Police Adjective, Italy’s Mid-August Lunch and Japan’s Departures.

Coady is eager to increase attendance at the festival and is pushing the $40 pass, which allows access to the entire festival (individual adult tickets are $10).

He also hopes the affordable pass will be a way to introduce people to a spectrum of movie genres they might not otherwise see.

He said a lot of people still don’t “get” the concept of a film festival. He refers to a friend who wants to see one film but that will be it. But, said Coady, there are more than 10 films on the Saturday and Sunday schedules alone.

Besides the feature length movies there will be the annual 48 Hour Flickfest highlighting local filmmakers who had 48 hours to make a film.

There will also be a documentary shorts program and a couple of freebees – a panel discussion about Windsor’s potential as a filmmaking centre – and a National Film Board workshop with filmmakers screening their short movies and talking about how they made them.

Advance tickets are available online at the fest’s website and at Chanosos, 255 Ouellette beginning Nov. 2.